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JOHN    CABOT'S    LANDFALL 


IN     1497, 


SITE    OF    NORUMBEGA. 


f&r. 


KBEN    NORTON    HORSFORb. 


346.  —  Monsieur  Harrisse, 

30,  rue  Cambac^res. 


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JOHN   CABOT'S    LANDFALL 


IN    1497, 


AND  THE 


SITE    OF    NORUMBEGA. 


A    LETTER   TO   CHIEF-JUSTICE   DALY, 

PRKSIDENT  OK  THE  AMERICAN  CIEOGRAI'lIICAL  SOCIETY. 


BY 


EBEN  NORTON   HORSFORD. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

JOHN     WILSON     AND    SON. 

SSntbrrBitv  Prreo. 

1886. 


lii 


sq-ii-l 


JOHN    CABOT'S    LANDFALL 


AND    THE 


SITE    OF    NORUMBEGA. 


Cambridge,  March  i,  1885. 
Chief  Justice  Daly,  LL.D.^ 

rrcsidcnt  of  the  American  Geographical  Society. 

Dear  Sir, —  I  desire  to  place  in  your  hands  a  summary 
statement  in  regard  to  the  results  of  some  geographical 
studies  in  wlilch   I  have  been  encracicd. 

The  time  when  my  completed  paper,  with  the  accom- 
panying sketches  and  maps,  will  be  ready  for  publication 
depends  upon  two  or  three  considerations  which  I  cannot 
control.  Meanwhile,  it  seems  proper  that  I  should  deposit 
with  you  a  brief  record  of  the  discoveries  I  have  made. 

They  are  — 

1.  The  site  of  the  landfall  of  John  Cabot  in  1497. 

2.  The  site  of  the  I-"ort  Norumbega  of  the  French,  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  bearing  the  same  name  ;  and  of  the 
Indian  settlement  near  the  fort,  —  the  Agoncy  of  Thevct; 
and  near  it  the  Norumbega  of  Allefonsce,  v'silod  in  1569 


<i 


i 


It. 


4  JOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 

by  the  sailor  Ingram  and  his  companions,  of  the  unfortu- 
nate expedition  of  Sir  John  Hawkins. 

I  submit  herewith  a  brief  outline  of  the  considerations 
on  which  my  conclusions  rest. 


I. 

On  the  map  of  Michael  Lok  (1582),  of  which  the  copy 
in  Hakiuyt  (Divers  Voyages  touching  the  Discovery  of 
America)  prefacing  the  relation  of  John  Verrazanus,  p.  55, 
is  here  referred  to,  you  may  recall  between  latitudes  42° 
and  51°  N.,  and  between  the  meridians  of  300°  and  320°, 
a  large  island,  and  on  it,  in  prominent  letters,  Norombega, 
and  in  lesser  letters,  John  Gaboi,  1497.  The  point  of 
land  against  Claudia,  a  smaller  island,  is  between  42°  and 

43°  N. 

This  fragment  of  the  map  —  not  including  the  inscrip- 
tion "  Jac  Cartier  1535,"  and  the  coast  lines  of  the  region 
above,  but  taking  in  the  outline  of  the  neighboring  shore 
southward  to  Carcnas  the  latitude,  the  names  Carctias, 
Monies  Johannis,  Claudia,  St.  Johan,  Cape  Bretott,  and 
Norombega  —  I  have  taken  to  be  a  sketch  produced  by 
John  Cabot  on  his  return  from  his  voyage,  early  in 
August,  1497,^  0^  ^^'li^'^  '^c  observed  between  the  morn- 
ing of  the  24th  of  June  and  the  date  of  his  departure 
from  our  shores. 

The  safety  of  this  assumption  will  be  seen  as  the  con- 
siderations on  which  it  rests  are  unfolded. 

'  The  elaborate  paper  on  John  Cabf-t,  by  Mr.  Charles  Deane,  in  Winsor's 
"America,"  leaves  no  question  unsettled  as  to  1497  being  the  year  of  the  first 
voyage  of  John  Cabot  to  oui  shores. 


r 


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MICHAIX  rOK,  CIVIS  LONDINENSIS 
HAMC   CHARTAM  BEIDICABAT : '  ^r^^ 


.tii"'* 


L 


AA'D   THE  SITE   OF  NORUMBEGA.  5 

John  Cabot  believed  his  landfall,  like  that  of  Columbus 
five  years  before,  to  have  been  on  an  island.  The  site  of 
the  landfall  has  been  lost.  When  it  shall  have  been  found 
we  may  know  who  first  in  the  fift°f!nth  century  saw  the 
continent  of  America ;  for  Columbus  came  upon  the  main- 
land (South  America)  in  1498,  and  Vespucius  a  year 
later. 

The  map  of  Lok  presents  Carenas  (enough  recalling 
Kjalarness  of  the  Norsemen  to  suggest  heirship),  the  C. 
de  Arenas  in  vario'  ;  forms  of  so  many  maps  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  the  Cape  Cod  of  Gosnold,  and,  as  seems 
to  be  determined  by  the  flags  on  Cosa's  map  of  1500 
(Jomard's  or  Stevens's),  the  southern  limit  of  Cabot's 
explorations  in   1497. 

The  outline  of  Cabot's  chart,  and  especially  that  of 
Cosa's,  suggests  a  general  resemblance  to  the  coast  as  far 
north  as  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack,  —  which  is  by  Lok, 
I  conceive,  confounded  with  the  St.  Lawrence,  —  discov- 
ered, as  recorded  on  the  same  map,  in  1535  by  Jacques 
Cartier. 


I  take  the  Norombega  (or  Norumbega)  to  be  the  name 
which  (like  Carenas)  Cabot  did  not  bestow,  but  found. 
He  gathered  naturally,  in  the  absence  of  a  knowledge  of 
the  language  spoken  by  the  natives,  that  it  was  the  name 
of  a  locality,  in  the  sense  of  a  district,  or  settlement,  or 
country.  This  notion,  which  students  ah  alike  have 
inherited,  has  obscured  research  in  regard  to  the  landfall 
from  that  dav  to  this.  It  was  a  mistaken  notion,  as  will 
become  obvious  farther  on. 


^EV>M!ffl««B*i8^»*?"-"'«""**''""' 


i       I 


6  JOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 

Dr.  Trumbull  has  pointed  out  that  each  Indian  geo- 
graphical name  was  descriptive  of  the  place  to  which  it 
was  affixed.  There  were  no  mcanins^less  proper  names. 
A  locality  was  recalled,  to  the  Indian,  by  presenting  a 
mental  picture  in  a  descriptive  term.  So  there  were  repe- 
titions of  the  same  name  where  there  were  repetitions  of 
the  same  topographical  features. 

When  Captain  John  Smith,  in   1614.  standing  on  the 
little  peninsula  between  the  modern  Jones  River  (the  Rio 
San  Antonio  of  the  preceding  navigators)  and  the  outer 
harbor  or  bay  between  Plymouth  and  Duxbury,  asked  the 
name  of  the  site  of  the  cluster  of  huts  Champlain  had 
fi.rured,  and  which  on  Verra/.ano's  map  (so  I  conjecture) 
is" represented  as  Lunga  Villa,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
stream,  the  reply  was   Accomac,  Uhc  other  side  place! 
The  same  reply  was  elicited  on  incjuiry,  and  the  name 
has  been  preserved  as  to  the  peninsula  east  of  the  Chesa- 
peake, -  Accomac,  "  the  other  side  /and."     The  same  name, 
with  dialectic  variation,  was  applied  to  England,  the  home 
of  Roger  Williams,  by  the  Indians  of  the   Narragansett 
tribe,  —  Accomac,  "  the  other  side  country:' 

As  there  were  many  deyond  lands  (accomacs),  so  there 
were  m^iny  falh  (pautuckets),  many  hills  (wadchus),  many 
ponds  (bangs,  paugs),  etc. 

There  were,  of  course,  different  names  for  the  same 
place,  determined  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  observer; 
as,  for  Boston,  Sha-um-ut,  "  near  the  neck,"  the  settle- 
ment between  Haymarket  Square -the  head  of  an 
ancient  cove  — and  Dock  Square  (Blackstone) ;  also, 
Mushau-womuk,  the  "canoe  landing  place"  (Indian  books 


1    & 


AND    THE  SITE   OF  NOKl/MBECA.  7 

of  1 699  and  1 700) ;  also,  Accomonticus,  the  "  beyond-the- 
hill-little-cove  "  (Ogilby's  America,  1671);  2i\^o,  Mess-atsoo- 
sec,  the  "great-hill-mouth"  (Rasles,  and  Wood's  N.  E. 
Prospect').  All  were  Indian  names  of  Boston.  All 
were  descriptive. 

The  same  name  was  applied  to  objects  possessing  some 
greatly  unlike  qualities,  but  having  others  in  common; 
as  Mi-slia-nm,  the  "  grcat-parallel-sided,"  was  the  name  of 
Charlcstown  Neck, — great  as  compared  with  Copp's  Hill, 
the  north  extension  of  the  Sha-um,  "  the  neck  "  of  Boston. 
Mi-sha-um  was  also  the  name  of  Charles  River  (Wood's 
N.  E.  Prospect),  the  "  great-parallcl-sided." 

The  name  also  applied  to  canoe,  —  Mi-sha-on  or  Mi- 
sho-on,  —  and  to  the  long,  straight  tnnk  of  the  tree  from 
'.vhich  the  canoe  is  made  (Heckweldcr). 

As  there  were  no  tkopkr  Indian  geographical  names,  and 
as  Norumbega  was  descriptive  of  topographical  or  liydro- 
graphical  features,  tlie  first  task  v.as  to  find  its  meaning. 
This  might  help  in  finding  the  locality.  To  this  end  aid 
was  long  sought  in  vain  in  vocabularies.  It  seemed  an 
ob\ious  Algonquin  word.  But  in  any  form  of  ready 
recognition  —  any  form  that  familiar  dialectic  variation 
would  include,  at  least  within  the  range  of  my  limited 
study  —  it  eluded  my  search. 

Feeling  sure  on  the  point  t'  at  the  name  was  descriptive 
of  some  locality  on  or  near  the  seashore,  and  therefore 
embracing  probably  both   land    and  water,  I  began  by 

'  Wood  gives  the  modified  M.issacluisets,  witli  one  /.  See  paper  on 
"Indian  Names  of  Boston  and  their  Meaning,"  in  N.  E.  Hist.  Gen.  Soc. 
Proceedings,  read  Nov.  4,   1885.  —  E.  N.  H. 


'     ! 


f' 


4:/ 


JOHN  CABOVS  LANDFALL 

nhcin,  tho  Indian  geographical  names  of  the  region  of 
piacini,  V         T-v     •  V  Qtrniu  to  Lone  Island, 

the  Atlantic  coast,  from  Uaviss  Straits  to  i  on^ 

,  •  ,.f  thnir  resDCCtive    atitudcs  along 

N.  Y.,  in  columns  agamst  their  resptcu 

the  outline  as  given  in  the  chart  of  the  Un.tcd  States 

't  »  through  the  names  so  arranged  I  remarked 
a^llSpcctliarityNhe  names  grew..^^^ 
,s  one  moved  southward.     Quchec  on  the  St.  La.rence 
became  Ahqueboi^icc  on  Long  Island,  N.  Y. 

K  Lboc  >o.  Mal„e,  ,h.  Agl.cniWUUi  „.  Radios,  be^c 
C,„„„A,»/,  and  farther  sou.l.  G'-'-'-'f,  OW^-. 
C)„,m/>W,fe,  and  lastly  Qm«nepy,olm  on  Long  Isla,  'i 
Sound      K,ai   became    O-^f,   0»»*  -J   C'^-i- 

''^Itt  nroved  son.b.ard-.rom  a  region  where  the  con- 
ditions  of  living  were  hard,  to  where  they  were  less  exaet. 
•  '  "  om  the  region  where  life  wa,  perpetual  struggle,  to  a 
rfgi'on  where  there  was  relative  leisure,  where  there  were 
r^L  extended  manufae.ures  (wanrpun,),  more  eom,  ere 
(furs),  more  decoration  -  the  names  became  softer, 
Ihey  become  softer  as  one  goes  from  Norway  southward 

'°r:'fh'':  terminal  syllable  of  a  name,../-  of  the 
Merrimack,  was  no.  found  ..,-M  o.  the  «../«,•  but  ,n  tts 
place,  as  already  intimated,  appeared  ba,ig. 
^  Between  these  rivers  we  might  loot  for  an  mtenned.ate 
form  ■  we  should  find  the  .outh,n,  limit  of  to',  or  as  spelled 
by  R^sles  ,as  above)  U-ki.  and  by  Father  Vctrom.le  tc-il.e, 
making  two  syllables;  and  we  should   find  the  noM.ru 
limit  of  bang. 


AND   THE  SITE  OF  NORUMBEGA. 


We  do  not  know  how  John  Cabot  thought  the  Indians 
pronounced  the  last  two  syllables  of  Norunibega ;  whether 
as  if  requiring  two  e's,  thus  beega,  or  but  one,  as  in  beg. 
The  French  of  later  date  wrote  it  bigtie. 

Of  the  Indian  names  preserved  from  the  days  of  Captain 
John  Smith  (1614),  along  the  coast  between  the  Merrimack 
and  Charles,  there  are  but  two,  or  at  most  three,  that  begin 
with  N,  —  Naumkeag,  Nahant,  and  Nantasket ;  the  latter 
the  headland  on  the  south  side  of  the  entrance  to  Boston 
harbor,  the  mouth  of  the  Charles. 

Naumkeag,  or  Nahumbeak,  is  the  ancient  Indian  name 
of  Salem.  The  first  occurrence  of  the  name  in  print  is 
in  the  record  of  the  intrepid  Captain  Smith.  It  will  be 
remembered  that,  landing  on  the  island  of  Monahigan 
(or  Manigan),  off  the  coast  of  Maine,  after  instructing  a 
portion  of  his  ship's  company  to  collect  fish,  he  coursed 
with  a  boat's  crew  of  eight  beside  himself  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Penobscot  to  Cape  Cod,  looking  into  and  sounding 
the  harbors,  and  acquiring  the  Indian  names  of  the  places 
along  the  shore  and  some  of  those  inland.  Among  these 
was  Naembeck,  sometimes  written  by  him  Naemkeck, 
apparently  with  indifference,  or  as  if  he  thought  the  first 
letter  of  the  terminal  syllable  might  be  either  b  or  k. 

He  placed  these  names  upon  his  outline  map  of  the 
coast,  and  on  his  return  to  England  submitted  it,  with  an 
account  of  his  discoveries,  together  with  a  scheme  for 
colonizing  New  England.  While  seeking  in  various  ways 
to  awaken  interest  in  his  project  among  the  English  people 
he  found  no  litde  opposition,  and  fell  at  length  upon  an 
advertising  idea,  as  we  shall  see,  of  far-reaching  influence. 


^  1  'ifi 


MfiHMi 


r<..-,|K»i'J'*«****'  '  "^  ' 


f3i 


jQ  JOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 

He  invited  the  eldest  son  of  the  King.  Prince  Charles,  then 
a  boy  of  fifteen  or  sixteen,  the  future  Charles  I.,  to  attach 
such  English  names  to  the  localities  bearing  the    nd.an 
names  as  might  be  acceptable  to  his  Ro>.l   H.ghness. 
and  so  obliterate  the  barbarous  names.     The  1  nnce  ac- 
quiesced.    He  gave  names  to  sites  of  towns,  bay.,  capes, 
mountains,  etc.,  of  which  but  three  have  been  rctamed.-- 
Cape    Ann    (named    after   his  royal    mother).  Plymouth 
(Which  came  to  be  occupied  by  emigrants  of  the  Mayflower 
fleet).  Charles  River,  and  possibly  Cape  hli/.abeth. 

The  l>rincc,  like  Smith,  conceived   the   names  to   be 
proper  names.     Ogilby  (167.)  imbibed  the  same  not^.n; 
he  says,  in  his  detailed  account  of  the  settlement  of  the 
earlier  New  England  towns,  the"  Indian  name  of  Salem 
was  Nahumbeak."     We  have  already  seen  John  Cabots 
inscription  of   Norumbega  as  a  country.     As   intm.ated 
above,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  name  was  a  mere  descrip- 
tive appellation,  permanent  only  to  an  observer  from  a 
given  point,  and  changing  from  Nahum-beak  to  Nahum- 
keak  with  change  in  the  point  of  observation.     1  he  name 
of  to-day  is  Naumkeag.' 

This  name  -  Nahumbeak  -  is  the  only  name  preserx'ed 
to  us  between  the  Merrimack  and  the  Charles  that  at  all 
suggests  Norumbega. 

»  This  point  is  discussed  at  length  in  my  full  paper. 


AND    THE  SITE  OF  NORVMBEGA. 


II 


II. 


Let  us  now  proceed  with  the  study  of  the  meaning  of 
the  word. 

The  word  is  resolvable  into  two  members,  —  beak,  of 
which  we  have  already  learned  something;  and  a  remain- 
der, Na/ium,  to  be  the  subject  of  special  study. 

Beak  may  be  divided  into  two  syllables,  de  and  al\ 

The  first  syllabic  appears  in  the  Delaware  language, 
according  to  Zeisbergcr,  n'bi ;  or  in  the  Narragansctt,  n'pi 
or  n'p.  Rasles  gives  for  the  AbnakI  dialect  nearly  the 
same,  —  neb.  In  its  combinations  m'  and  n'  are  dropped, 
and  what  remains  means  'loatcr  in  the  abstract,  or  possibly, 
as  there  seems  to  be  indication  of  it,  water  as  a  beverage. 

The  second  syllable  is  derived  from  a/d-e,  land.  This 
corresponds  with,  and  is  a  dialectic  variation  of,  auke 
(Roger  Williams)  and  o/ih  (of  regions  farther  south). 

The  combination  without  abbreviation  would  give  us 
be-ahkc,  which,  with  an  acute  accent,  corresponds  nearly 
with  the  word  be-ghe,  given  by  Father  Vetromile  as  the 
pronunciation  of  the  Penobscot  Indians  of  to-day. 

This  word,  according  to  Vetromile,  means  "Stillwater." 
According  to  the  old  Penobscot  Indian  hunter,  John  Pen- 
nowit,  whose  authority  Mr.  L.  L.  Hubbard  relies  upon,  it 
means  "  dead  water,"  that  is,  "  water  without  current." 

Such  water  farther  south  might  be  called  d.  pond,  ending 
in  bang  or  paug  (for  instance,  Ouinnebaug,  Ponkipaug); 
or  as  nearly  enclosed  "  dead  water "  between  rapids  above 
and  below,  such  as  Father  Vetromile  encountered  when 
inquiring   for    Norumbega    (what    the   voyageurs   called 


>  t 


i^ 


wmmmmm 


.11 


12  JOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 

Nolum-bcghc);  or  it  would  be  a  bay  or  harbor,  such  as 

Naumbeak. 

Be-al:  or  beah-kc,  or  be-ghc  or  bega,  would  apply  to 

the  harbor  of  Salem,  between  Marblehead  and  the  Beverly 

shore,  inside  of  Baker's  Island,  or  of  the  many  ''Breakers" 

of  the  Coast  Survey  map. 

These  four  forms  differ  but  little  from  each  other,  or 

they  glide  into  each  other,  and  are  quite  within  the  limits 

of  dialectic  variation:  indeed,  within  the  limits  of  such 
possible  deviation  as  might  occur  in  the  utterances  of 
neighboring  settlements,  and  altogether  within  the  range 
of  deviations  in  names  such  as  the  Indian  name  of  dog,  as 
will  be  seen  further  on. 

It  may  be  accepted,  then,  that  the  two  syllables  in 
be-ak  are  the  dialectic  representatives  of  the  two  syllables 
in  he-ga,  and  mean  water  wMoui  current,  as  the  water  of 

a  bay.^ 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  first  two  syllables  of  Nahum- 

beak. 


1  I  find  in  Conn.  Hist.  Soc,  vol.  ii.  p.  15.  '"  "r.  Trumbull's  paper  on 
Indian  geographical  names,  under  4:  "  I'aug,  pog,  bog  (Abn.  -btga,  -begat; 
Del.  pecat),  an  inseparable  generic,  denoting  water  at  rest." 

I  had  sought  for  the  word  /.<<,/,  as  a  ^^  separable  generic,"  in  Rasles's  Dic- 
tionary, but  without  success.  Dr.  Trumbull  had  been  more  thorough.  What 
I  had  deduced  witli  some  circumstance  was  thus  confirmed  in  the  most  direct 
and  sc'tisfactory  manner.  It  came  to  me  only  after  my  letter  had  been  placed 
in  the  hands  of  Judge  Daly  fur  publication. 

It  may  be  ciuestioned  whether  /;<£,'«  is  an  "inseparable  generic."  In 
Ingram's  relation  we  have  both  Uei^a  and  Norumbega. 

Rasles  lived  and  wrote  at  Norridgewock,  on  the  Kennebec,  not  far  from  the 
southern  limit  of  the  Abnaki  country,  and  also  of  the  prevalence  of  their 
dialect. 


AND   THE  SITE   OF  XORUMDEGA. 


13 


These  occur  in  modification,  in  the  various  ways  of 
writing  the  same  name  by  Smith,  Ogilby,  Wood,  Gookin, 
Lothrop,  and  others  ;    for  example :  — 

N  a  hum  (Ogilby  gives  the  aspirate). 

N  a  um. 

N  a  am. 

N  a  em. 

Nam. 

Nehim. 

N  e  m. 

The  first  syllabic  is  sometimes  No,  sometimes  Na, 
sometimes  Noa,  and  of  still  other  forms,  of  which  men- 
tion is  made  by  Trumbull. 

It  means  middle,  betawn,  dividing,  separating,  and  the 
like. 

Rasles  gives  for  midway^ 

Na-wl-wi. 

\Vi  means  way.  In  this  word  the  syllable  -wi  is  re- 
peated ;  that  is,  there  arc  tiL'o  '<vays.  IMidway  is  where 
the  two  ways  come  together,  or  where  the  single  way  is 
divided  into  tico  ways. 

Na-sha-wi  (Nashaway)  is  a  word  frequently  used  by 
Eliot  in  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  Massachu- 
setts dialect.  Sha,  which  means  parallel-sided}  with  the 
prefix  na  and  the  suffix  loi,  is  used  by  him  as  the  Indian 
equivalent  of  "  between  the  walls  "  (of  a  street,  for  exam- 
ple). Na-na-sha-wi,  or  loc  (na  repeated  for  emphasis),  he 
employs  for  in  a  strait  betwixt  tivo. 

'  The  etymoloj;)'  is  discussed  at  length  in  my  full  paper. 


J  .  JOHN  CABOrS  LANDFALL 

Na  bv  itself,  in  which  form  it  does  not  occur,  would  be 
a  preposition;  but  combined  with  um  (or  wum.  or  ««,  or 
.«?),  in  the  Massachusetts  (Natick)  dialect  it  is  converted 

into  a  substantive. 

As  sha  {parallel-sided)  with  um  becomes  the  noun  bha- 
um  {neck),  so  na  {bei2oeeH  or  separatino)  with  um  becomes 
the  noun  Na-um  {divider). 

Na-sha-un  is  the  parallel-sided  island  behuecn  Buzzards 
Bay  and  the  Vineyard  Sound  (Nau-shaun). 

Na-sha-onk(onk  means  upright)  is  throat, -.^//^^/^  of 
the  parallel-sided-upright.  Mun-na-onk  (Mun  means  ele- 
vation\  elevation  in  middle  of  upright,  is  also  throat,  or 
more  especially  the  middle  projection,  the  larynx. 

We  have  thus  pointed  out  the  meaning  of  Nahum. 

It  is  divider. 

In  combination  with  beak,  it  is  divider  of  (lie  bay. 
That  which  divides  a  bay -a  tongue  of  land  nsuig 
from  the  bottom  of  a  bay,  which  makes  two  bays  — is  a 

Naliutn. 

The  meaning  of 

Nahim-beak  is  Divider  of  the  Bay. 

Nahum  applies  to  Salem  Neck,  which  divides  the  waters 
of  Beverly  shore, -the  North  River,  locally  so  called, 
from  the  South  River,  beyond  which  is  Marblehcad. 


We 
bega. 


have  seen  how  beak  is  the  dialectic  equivalent  of 


1 


Ai\D    THE  SITE  OF  NORUMBEGA. 


15 


How  are  we  to  see  Nahum,  the  equivalent  of  Norum, 
or  Norem,  or  Norim,  etc.,  as  the  name  appears  in  Norom- 
bega  on  different  maps  of  the  sixteenth  century? 

We  have,  happily,  an  historic  instance  of  parallelism  of 
dialectic  variation. 

Roger  Williams,  Eliot,  Experience  Mayhew,  and  Josiah 
Cotton,  and  several  more  modern  writers,  have  remarked 
upon  the  dialectic  variations  in  the  pronunciation  or 
spelling  of  the  Indian  name  of  dog. 

It  is  Ayem,     Narragansett  (Roger  Williams). 
Alum,      Narragansett  and  Nipmuk  (Eliot). 
Anum,     Massachusetts,  Um  produced  (Eliot). 
Annum,  Massachusetts  (Wood's  N.  E.  Prospect). 
Annum,  Massachusetts  (Coiton). 
Arum,     Northern  Abnaki. 
Attum,    Etchemin. 

The  primitive  root  here  is  the  simple  bark  li,  to  which, 
with  an  intervening  consonant,  the  syllable  um  is  joined, 
which  makes  a  substantive,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  dialect 
spoken  in  this  region. 

Eliot  remarks,  as  mentioned  above,  that  the  sound  of  u 
is  produced;  that  is,  it  is  like  00.  This  provides  for  one  of 
the  sounds  of  o  in  the  second  syllable  of  Norom;  um  may 
become  ooni,  or  perhaps  dm.  The  first  syllable  was  in 
Eliot's  day  sometimes  spelled  No  as  well  as  Na,  as 
already  remarked. 

Between  these  two  syllables,  a  and  um,  there  might  be 
interposed  a  variety  of  consonants.  As  there  was  no  r  in 
the  Narragansett  language,  according  to  Roger  Williams 
they  substituted  the  letter  /,  or  omitted    the   consonant 


1 5  JOHN  CABOT  S  LAND  FALL 

altogether,  as  in  Ayem.  The  intcrchangeability  of  /  and  r 
in  the  Algonquin  has  been  remarked  upnn  by  Williams, 
Eliot,  Cotton,  and  T^Iayhew,  and  by  every  modern  writer 
upon  Indian  dialects.     Williams's  Key  appeared  in  1643. 

In  some  combinations  in  Indian  (Algonquin)  words  the 
interchangeability  or  alternateness  includes  n  with  /  and 
r  (for  example,  Quille,  quirri,  quinni). 

We  have  thus  pointed  out  the  dialectic  equivalency  of 
the  several  elements  of  Norumbega  with  those  of  Nahum- 

beak. 

We  may  have  Na  or  No  and  /or  r,  with  urn  or  om  or 

evt  or  im:  or  neither  /  nor  r,  but  simply  nvi  or  hum,  and 

beak  or  bcghe,  or  bega  or  begue. 

Where,  instead  of  a  bay  divided  by  a  tongue  (Norum  or 

Nahum)  of  land,  there  are  hmd-lands  divided  by  a  tongue 

(Norum  or  Nahum  or  Naum)of  tvatcr,  as  Marblehead  and 
Marblehead  Neck,  there  was  Na-um-Keak  (Kcak=:ahke- 
ahke).     Naum/fr«^  may  not  be  the  equivalent  of  Naum- 
kcak.      The  termination  cag  occurs  in  instances  where 
there  is  shallow  water,  and  in  some  cases  where  the  bed 
is  bare  at  low  tide.     It  was  applied  by  the   Indians,  in 
relatively    recent   times,  to  the   North   River   at  Salem. 
(History  of  Old  Naumkeag.)    The  Naum  or  tongue  may  be 
merely  the  deeper  bed  of  the  river  separating  the  shallower 
waters  on  either  side.     Both  Naumkeag  and  Nahumbeak 
occur  on  sheets  of  water   inland    as  well  as  along  the 
seashore.* 

1  It  is  not  worlb.  while  to  point  <mt  in  this  summary  the  wide  nnge  of  di.t- 
lectic  variations  of  these  words  which  I  have  found.  A  few  may  be  alluded 
to     There  is  Naam-keake  on  the  Pond  Annannieumsic,  in  Chelmsford,  near 


AND   THE  SITE   OF  NORUMBEGA. 


'7 


Norumbcga  may,  like  Naambeak,  apply  to  any  bay  from 
the  bottom  of  which  rises  a  narrow  tongue. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  determination  of  the 
meaning  of  Norumbega  and  its  identity  with  that  of 
Nahumbeak  has  made  it,  at  the  best,  probable  that  the 
Nahumbeak  of  Salem  harbor  is  the  Norombcfja  of  Cabot. 
It  has  made  it  more  probable  that  the  Norumbega  of  Cabot 
is  to  be  found  in  the  belt  of  latitude  in  which  meet  the 
terminal  syllable  bcc,  which  prevails  north  of  the  Merri- 
mac,  and  the  terminal  syllable,  its  dialectic  equivalent, 
bang,  which  prevails  south  of  the  Charles. 


III. 

If  we  look  carefully  at  the  sketch  of  John  Cabot  on 
Lok's  map  of  15S2,  we  may  remark  that  the  outline  0/  the 
shore  against  the  island  Claudia  rudely  resembles  the  cap- 
ital letter  M,  the  V  portion  between  the  two  columns  cor- 
responding with  the  tongue  or  Norum, 

If  you  take  a  tracing  of  the  outline  of  this  bay  on  Lok's 
map,  and  apply  it  to  the  map  of  Cosa  (1500),  you  will  find 
the  Norumbega,  or  the  letter  M,  within  a  large  island,  and 
not  far  from  the  Cabo  de  Yngla-tcrra  (the  Cape  Breton  of 
Cabot,  the  Cape  Ann  of  to-day). 

Lowell.  Another  is  concealed,  near  the  .Merrimack,  in  Amoske.ig ;  less  per- 
fectly in  Naunikeag;  more  deeply  in  Nehim-kek,  in  Namskaket,  in  Namasket, 
and  in  half  a  dozen  or  more  of  others,  all  of  which  have  been  the  subject  of 
discovery  in  the  detailed  town  maps  of  M.as.sachusetts,  and  of  investigation  in 
early  Massachusetts  history.  In  this  frequent  recurrence  of  dialectic  varia- 
tions of  the  name  may  have  originated  the  notion  that  Norumbega  was  the 
name  of  a  country. 

3 


i 


g  JOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 

I  conjecture  this  portion  of  the  coast  was  furnished  by 

one  of  Cabot's  crew.' 

You  f^nd  the  M,  this  Norumbega,  on  the  map  of  Thorn 
(.527),  who  claimed  that  his  father  was  w.th  John  Cabot 

'"  You'find  the  M  on  the  map  of  Verrazano  If  you  will 
note  in  the  letter  of  John  X'errazano  to  the  k.ng.  one  o 
the  two  bavs  he  visited,  where  he  found  the  t.de  .gk  feet 
(which  range  is  attained  north  of  Cape  Cod).  >-ou  v.11  find 
the  letter  M,  the  Norumbega,  the  dnM  bay.  figured 
there      It  was  here  that  lie  remained  fifteen  days. 

.  VV„a.  so  natur...  as  that  the  sailor  who  had  been,  .a.  .  -nceive,  wUh 

Cabot,  ana  had  perhaps  shipped  wi.h  Cosa  (who  .as  not  P-^«^    on 

«hnre  of  New  England),  should  have  given  prommence  to  the  fea  ure  which 

Tcllen    d  the  attention  of  hin,seU  and  shipmates  ?     A  careful  e.annna 

lard's  Cosa  s  map  will  show  tha,  twice  the  contr,bu,or  reduced  the 

S;i;::d  .so  of  the  ...  »/.«<.  observed  at  his  .^.  ..W  by  Cabot  on 

"VS:t":::r:^r  Uey  besides  the  tide  to  the  localities  on  the  n,ap  of 
Hiero  u  Verra.ano,in  the  isthmus  which  separates  the  M- Verra.ana 
of  LOW'S  map  from  Massachusetts  Bay,  see  also  the  maps  of  Agnese.  .  536. 
PtMll  ^540,  KusccUi,  ,544.  and  the  «lnbe  of  U.pius.  n.s  ,stU,n,.s  u  ih 
Wr,  ofthc  Cape  (.od  pcm.sula  .n  ,lu  .ui^MiooU  of  lUrnstabU, 
:Z::t:Jl^l  .J^^    U.   si.   mUes   given   by  Hieronymus 

''"r^ue:;o  mare  orientale  si  vede  il  mare  occiden.ale  Sono  6  migha  cU 
terra^nfrl  luno  a  Taltro."  ''Fro,,.  tkU  auUn.  .a  one  e>.oi,U  tke  western 
.ea.     There  are  6  miles  0/ land  befojcen  the  one  and  the  other. 

Fast  of  this  isthmus  lies  the  pu.zling  extension  of  the  pen.nsula  of  Cape 
C  j;It:e  Terra  KU.rida  of  Verra.ano,  ,5.4,  and  of  Thevet.  .55^-  i  the  Cape 

Norumbe.ue  of  AUelonsce,  .54^45-     1'  '^^  ^''°-"  °"  ^'•^'""" '^  '"'P'         . 
Drue  Costa  (Northmen  in  Maine,  p.  93)  po'-ted  out  AUefonsce's  recogn- 


> 
o 

m 

> 
2; 


mvy^oj 


(.  fi 


,.«'^- 


.-►' 


..«• 


,!<•• 


^ 

^ 


^1 


K 


.« 


C5 


r 


11 


i 


AND   THE  SITE   OF  NORUAfBF.GA. 


19 


You  will  find  Flora,  Port  du  Refuge,  Port  Real,  and  Le 
Paradis,  mentioned  by  Thevet,  on  Gastaldi's  map,  1550, 
and  the  two  former  names,  together  with  the  letter  M,  on 
the  map  of  Hieronymus  Verrazano.  The  map  of  Gastaldi 
still  retains  the  shadow  of  Cabot's  sketch  and  of  Cosa's 
Straits  (the  notion  of  the  margin  of  an  archipelago). 

You  will  observe  Refugium,  and  Porto  Reale,  and  pos- 
sibly the  M,  on  the  globe  of  Ulpius.  Refugium,  P.  Reale, 
and  Flora  arc  given  on  Maiollo's  map. 

You  will  find  the  name  Nurumberg  and  the  letter  M 
with  I.  [P.?]  Refuge,  P.  Real,  Le  Paridis,  and  Cape  Breton 
and  Claudia  replaced  by  Brisa  I.,  on  the  map  of  Ruscelli, 


tion  of  Florida  in  tlie  region  of  lat  42°  N.,  and  also  his  recognition  of 
Massacluisetis  liay,  in  lliis  latitude.  This  name  was  one  of  several  bestowed 
by  the  early  French  navij^ators,  all  of  which  read  like  exclamations  of  delight 
in  view  of  the  scenery  of  the  coast ;  Terra  Florida,  Valle  Ambrosa,  Buena 
PTor,  Larcadia,  Flora,  I'aradiso,  Refugium,  etc.  Norman  Villa,  which  appears 
on  the  \'errazano  maps  and  the  globe  of  Ulpius,  probably  refers  to  a  structure 
ascribed  to  tlie  Northmen. 

A  comparison  of  the  outline  of  Maiollo's  map  of  1527  (VVeise's  Discoveries 
of  America  to  1525),  from  Terra  Florida  southwestward  to  the  strait  thnt  com- 
municates with  the  western  ocean,  with  the  Coast  Survey  map  from  Cape  Cod 
to  the  Chesapeake  (or  possibly  the  Delaware)  I'ay  will  suggest  that  the  map 
ascribed  to  \'crrazano  rests  upon  a  voyage  past  the  narrow  neck  at  Harnstable, 
—  the  isthmus  separating  the  Atlantic  from  the  Mare  \'errazana  (I-ok's  map);  — 
past  Buzzard's  Bay,  shown  on  the  Map-a-mundi  of  the  Propaganda  collections 
(Judge  Oaly's  Address,  1879)  as  a  break  in  the  continuity  ;  past  Newport  island 
and  harbor  {Rio  de  Espirilu  Saiilo) ;  thence  to  Montauk  (Rcsife)  and  along 
the  south  shore  of  Long  Island  (without  a  harbor)  to  the  entrance  to  tlie 
Hudson;  thence  up  the  Hudson  to  Manhattan  Islaiul,  with  the  recognition 
of  the  North  and  Fast  rivers,  so  called  ;  thence  past  the  strait  below  Staten 
Island  ;  and  along  the  coast  to  tlie  entrance  to  a  large  bay  presLiiting  a  water 
horizon  on  the  west.  Tlie  voyage  may,  of  course,  have  been  in  the  opposite 
direction. 

The  embarrassment  to  cartographers  growing  out  of  the  existence  of  two 
Floridas  is  suHiciently  obvious  to  the  student  of  Maiollo's  map  and  of  the 
Map-amundi  above  referred  to. 


I 


20  yOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 

,561.    { Brisa  is  French  for  breakers ;  sec  6reai-crs  several 
times  repeated  on  Coast  Survey  map.) 

Buno  (Buno's  Cluverius)  mentions  as  belonging  to  No- 
rumbepca  these  several  places  ;  namely,  Porto  del  Refugio. 
Porto  Reale,  Paradiso,  Flora,  and  Angolcma.' 

The  M  is  not  given  on  the  map  of  Champlain,  1603, 
nor  on  that  of  Smith,  1614. 

The  M  appears  at  Salem  in  great  distinctness  on  Win- 
throp's  map  (i634Uugcthcr  with  Baker's  Island,  under 
which  Winthrop  anchored  in  1630,  as  I  conceive  Cabot 
to  have  done  June  24,  i497-  0"^  hundred  and  thirty-three 

years  before. 

Finally  the  M  appears  at  Salem  on  the  Coast  Survey 
map  with  Baker's  Island  (Brisa  or  Briso)  and  Bnakers, 
dcsic-nated  as  outer,  inner,  middle,  dry,  southeast,  etc., 
studding  the  outer  harbor.^ 

The  identity  of  the  outline  M  with  the  earlier  Norum- 
bega  and  the  later  Nahumbeak  and  the  present  outline 
of  Salem  harbor  will  be  obvious  on  a  glance  at  the  out- 
lines, from  Lok  down  to  the  Coast  Survey,  which  I  sub- 
mit herewith. 

1  The  various  forms  of  this  name  -  .is  given  on  Ruscelli's  map,  Angou- 
lesmes ;  on  Gastaldi's,  Angoulesme  :  and  the  same  in  Thevet's  account  -  all 
follow  the  AnguiUme  of  Maiollo^s  Verrazana,  an.l  apply,  I  conceive,  to 
Charles  River.  This  conception  has  support  in  t'-at  one  of  the  names  of 
the  Charles,  or  of  a  section  of  it,  was  the  descriptive  Mi-shaum,-the 
great-parallel-sided, -or  £<r/-river,  of  which  Anguilcme  may  be  the  Krench 

equiv.alent. 

»  As  lending  support  to  the  notion  that  the  n.-ime  "  Baker's,"  which  was 
attached  to  the  island  .is  early  as  1630  (History  of  Naumkeag),  may  have  been 
a  corruption  of  Breakers,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  I  have  sought  in  vain  for 
Khe  namt  of  Baker  in  all  published  lists  of  emigrants  in  the  Plymouth  and 
Mass.ichusetts  Bay  colonies  of  dates  earlier  than  1630. 


1 


uL 


•It*. 


# 


p 


:.t 


AND   THE  SITE  OF  NORVMBEGA. 


ai 


The  island  off  the  letter  M  is  seen  on  the  map  of  Lok 
(John  Cabot's  sketch,  Claudia);  without  name  on  Gastal- 
di's ;  as  Brisa  I.  on  Ruscelli's ;  as  .SV.  Nicolans  de  la 
Trinidad  on  Cosa's ;  Luisa  (possibly  Marblehcad  Neck, 
formerly  an  island)  on  Verrazano's  (MaioUo's  and  Hie- 
ronymus  Verrazano's) ;  and  islands  without  name  off  Re- 
fugium  and  Porto  Reale  on  the  globe  of  Ulpius.  It  is 
also  given  on  Thevet's  map,  in  about  its  proper  position, 
as  Claude} 

IV. 

I  have  further  taken  the  names  and  distinctive  features 
on  Cabot's  sketch  in  Lok's  map,  and  have  traced  them 
through  a  lung  series  of  maps  down  to  the  time  of  Win- 
throp,  with  the  successive  accessions  of  new  names,  and 
from  time  to  time  the  disappearance  of  others,  either  by 
dropping  out  or  by  replacemei  showing,  as  it  were, 
dovetailing,  which  binds  the  serii  maps  together. 

There  came  early  the  confusio  wing  out,  possibly, 

of  some  cartographer's  confounding  tiie  Gut  of  Canso 
with  the  narrow  strait  connecting  Annisquam  with 
Gloucester  harbor,  which  makes  Cape  Ann  an  island, 
and  so  duplicating  Cape  Breton,  St.  Johan,  Port  Real, 
Isla  Primera,  and  New-found-land  at  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Lawrence. 

'  'I'lie  cl.iini  for  tlie  identity  of  Claudia  with  the  islands  mentioned  may 
seem  to  be  impaired  when  it  is  seen  that  Merc.ator  (1569)  separates  Claudia 
and  liriso  (Urisa)  widely  from  each  other,  .and  when  it  is  further  seen  that 
both  Mercator  and  Wylliel  (Augmentum  to  I'totemy,  1597)  give  Via  primera 
as  distinct  from  Cljiidia,  and  both  from  Briso.  But  I  refer  for  the  detailed 
consideration  of  this  apparent  objection  to  my  full  paper. 


-':''l'if7^'S^^I*^''^.'K^^"'  - 


22 


JOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 


\ 


Earlv,  also,  came    with    Ribero,    1529.   the   name    St. 
Christopher,  which  clings  with  great  persistence  on  the 
maps  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  unvarying  succession 
northward  with  the  bay  or  river  of  San  Antonio  (Jones's 
River)  and  Montana  Verde  (Blue  Hills  of  Milton).    South 
or  east  of  this  group  is  C.  de  Arenas  (or  some  modifica- 
tion of  the  Latin  {ox  keel  or  ^««r/,  — Cape  C-    /,  north  of 
it,  more  or  less  distant,  the  Bay  of  St.  Joh  .   die  Baptist; 
and  farther  on,  Cape  Breton  (Cape  Ann).     If  the  circum- 
stance that  Plymouth  inner  harbor  is  bare,  or  nearly  so,     , 
at  low  tide  suggested  to  the  early  navigator  the  idea  of 
wadwc:,  and  so  the  use  of  the  name  of  the  Saint,  we  have 
a  point  to  which  the  varying  geographical  names,  within 
certain  limits,  may  be  referred  for  adjustment.     But  this 
I  will  not  pursue' further  here.     Dr.  Kohl  (p.  276)  sug- 
gests  that  Gomez  was  the  probable  author  of  this  name 
and  many  others  on  Ribero's  map. 


V. 

All  the  above  suggestions  as  to  the  site  of  the  Norum- 
bega  of  Cabot  must  eventually  revolve  about,  and  be  in 
harmony  with,  the  requirements  of  the  latitude. 

On  the  map  of  Lok,  1582,  the  sketch  of  Cabot  against 
Claudia  lies,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  between  42'  and  43"  N. 
This  latitude  or  belt  includes  the  region  between  the 
northern  portion  of  the  peninsula  of  Cape  Cod  and,  on 
the  Coast  Survey  map,  a  point  just  north  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Merrimack. 

On  Wytfliet,  1597,  it  is  in  about  44°. 


AND    THE  SITE  OF  NORUMBEGA. 


n 


On  the  Spanish  Map-a-mundi,  1527  (in  J.  C.  Brevoort's 
Verrazano),  the  region  would  be  between  40°  and  47"  N. 

On  Maggiolo's  Verrazano  (VYinsor's  America)  it  would 
be  south  of  40",  while  on  that  of  Hieronymus  Verrazano 
it  would  be  north  of  45°. 

On  the  Dauphin  map,  1543,  it  would  be  between  41° 
and  44°  N. 

On  Ulpius's  Globe,  between  40°  and  45°  N. 
On  Ruscelli,  1561,  it  is  between  40°  and  5o\     But  he 
includes,  as  1  conceive,  witliin  the  same  latitudes  as  does 
Gastaldi,  1550,  the  principal  islands  off  the  coast  of  Maine 
from  Mount  Desert  southward. 

On  Ribero,  1529,  it  is  between  41"  and  44°. 
On  Vallard,  1543,  it  is  between  42°  and  45'. 
On    the   (so-called)   Sebastian    Cabot  map,    1544,  it  is 
between  41°  and  44". 

Thevet,  1556,  who  claims  to  have  personally  visited  the 
region,  says  distinctly  it  (Norumbegue)  "  lies  in  the  forty- 
third  degree  T  that  is,  between  42"  and  43°  N. 

Ogilby  says  (p.  138):  ".  .  .  Norumbegua,  most  of  it, 
being  under  the  forty-third  degree  of  latitude." 

AUefonsce,  the  pilot  of  Robeval  in  1540,  who  coasted 
the  shores  of  New  England,  says  (MSS.  in  Bibliotheque 
Nat.):  "  The  cape  of  St.  John  called  Cape  Breton  "  [these 
are  names  on  Cabot's  chart,  Lok's  map,  15S2]  "and  the 
Cape  San  I-'ranciscane  are  northeast  and  southwest,  and 
range  a  point  from  an  east  and  west  course,  .  .  .  and 
there  are  one  hundred  and  forty  leagues  on  the  course, 
and  which  makes  one  cape,  called  the  Cape  of  Norem- 
begue.     The  said  cape  is  past  forty-one  degrees  of  the 


JOHN  CABOrS  LANDFALL 

heieht  of  the  Arctic  pole.  The  said  coast  is  all  sandy,  .  .  . 
flat  without  any  mountain,  and  along  this  coast  there  are 
many  isles  of  sand,  and  the  coast  very  dangerous  on 
account  of  banks  and  rocks."  This  description  agrees 
well  with  the  region  of  Cape  Cod  from  Nantucket  to 
Nahant  The  Cape  San  Franciscane  may  have  been 
Montauk.  which  is  tolerably  near  to  a  prolongation  of 
the  range  from  Cape  Ann,  as  given  by  Allefonsce. 

This  relation  is  of  interest  as  determining  the  identity 
of  the  Cape  Norombegue  of  Allefonsce  with  Cape  Cod, 
which  is,  he  says,  "  past "  or  "  through  [that  is,  next  above] 
forty-one  degrees  of  the  height  of  the  Arctic  pole.'  Cape 
Malebar  is  between  41"  and  42";  tmd  the  forty-second 
crosses  the  peninsula  just  south  of  Provincetown.  near 
the  extreme  point  of  the  Cape. 

Allefonsce  proceeds  to  say:  — 

"  Beyond  the  Cape  of  Norotnhcguc  the  River  of  the  sntd 
Norombegue  descends  about  twenty-five  leagues  from,  the 

Cape!" 

I  cite  this  testimony  of  Allefonsce  in  regard  to  the  lati- 
tude of  the  region  of  Norombegue,  as  his  profession  zvas 
that  of  pilot,  and  his  testimony  unimpeachable ;  and  he 
may  be  fairly  presumed  to  be  not  more  than  one  degree, 
at  the  utmost,  out  of  the  way  in  a  matter  of  latitude.  I 
cite  him  also  liccausc  he  endorses,  in  regard  to  latitude, 
the  statement  of  Thevet,  which  statement  by  itself  would 
perhaps  be  less  entitled  to  confidence. 

Within  this  belt  of  latitude  of  42°  to  43°,  between  Cape 
Cod  and  Cape  Ann,  — the  Carenas  and  Cape  Breton  of 
Cabot  (the  latter  the  Cape  Breton  of  Allefonsce  as  well). 


AND    THE  SITE  OF  NORUMBEGA. 


25 


—  within  this  belt  there  is  but  one  outline,  with  an  oppos- 
ing island,  to  which  the  terms  Nornmbega  and  Nahumbeak 
apply ;  and  that  is  the  outline  of  zuhich  the  Nortcm,  the 
Nahiim,  the  Tongue,  is  Salem  Neck. 


VI. 


NORUMBEGA  OR  NORUMBEGUE  OF  CHAMPLAIN. 

The  suggestion  that  Norumbega  lay  in  higher  latitude 
rests,  or  is  supposed  to  rest,  on  the  authority  of  Cham- 
plain.  From  him  and  his  surveys  Lescarbot  and  De 
Lact,  Montanus  and  Ogilby,  derive  their  authority. 
Champlain  spent  three  summers  in  the  examination  of 
the  New  England  coast,  and  yet  did  not  penetrate  the 
mouth  of  the  Charles,  and  only  glanced  at  the  entrance 
to  the  Merrimack.  Champlain  was  looking  for  a  town 
of  Norumbega.  Me  distinctly  says  he  found  nothing  cor- 
responding with  the  descriptions  he  had  read,  although 
he  writes  Norcmbegue  along  the  coast  between  the  Ken- 
nebec and  Penobscot.' 

'  Kcv.  Mr.  Slafter,  p.  107,  in  his  carefully  prepared  paper  on  Champlain, 
Winsur's  '•  America,"  referriiij;  to  tlie  stay  and  work  of  Champlain  for  three 
summers,  s.iys  :  "  The  first  of  these  surveys  was  made  during  the  month  of 
September,  1604.  This  expedition  was  under  the  sole  direction  of  Champlain, 
and  was  made  in  a  barque  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  tons,  manned  by  twelve 
sailors  and  with  two  Indians  as  guides.  He  examined  the  coast  from  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  to  the  l'enol>scot.  .  .  .  Sailing  up  the  I'enobscot, 
called  by  the  Indians  Pentagoet,  and  by  Europeans  who  have  passed  along 
the  co.ist  the  Norunibegue  (as  he  supposed),  he  explored  this  river  to  the 
head  of  tidewater,  .at  the  present  city  of  Bangor,  where  a  fall  in  the  river 
intercepted  his  course.  In  the  interior  along  the  shores  of  the  river  he  saw 
scarcely  any  inhabitants  ;  but  by  a  very  careful  examin.ition  he  was  satisfied 

4 


' 


■II 


I 

v 


^g  -JOHN  CABOrS  LANDFALL 

In  Studying  Champlain's  original  paper  it  is  seen  that 
he  regarded  \he  latitude  of  Norumbcga  as  only  very  im- 
perfe^dy  settled;    and  having   learned    fro,.   Allefonsce 
Jand  Thevet?)  of  a  river  Norumbegue,  and  hav.ng  faded 
o   recognise   the   Charles,   and   having    only   saded   by 
the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack,  he  assumed  at  first  that  th 
site  must  be  on  the  Penobscot,  as  it  was,  he  judged,  the 
only  river  considerable  enough   to  be  so  distmguished. 
AlLugh  in  the  end  he  discredits  the  whole  theory  and 
notion  on  which  he  at  first  acted,  such  was  the  currency 
gained  through  his  great  name,  that.  W./,^  from  h.shav 
L  looked  for  the  site  of  the  town  on  the  Fenobscot,  all 
writers  upon   Norumbega  since  his  time  have  assumed 
that    somewhere   on   this   river   the    town  once  existed, 
and  its  remains  might  some  day  be  found. 

I)r  Palfrev.  in  his  History  of  New  England  (probably 
from  having  carefully  examined  Champlain's  narrat.on) 
ignored  the  whole  story  of  Norumbega.  The  name  kept 
ifs  foothold  in  Gilbert.  John  Smith,  De  Laet,  Montanus 
Cluverius,  Heylin.  Lescarbot.  Laudonnierc.  Ogdby,  and 
others,  and  is  found  on  a  groat  series  of  maps  >  and  even 
has  a  place  in  "  Paradise  Lost  •  Uiber  x.). 

Uevond  a  doub,  that  the  story,  which  had  gained  currency  fron,  a  period  a.  |ar 
b?cU  as  the  time  of  Allefonsce.  .about  a  Large  native  u,wn  ,n  he  v.cnUy, 
lose  inhabitants  had  att.ained  to  some  of  the  higher  arts  of  c.vd.at.on.  was 
wholly  without  foundation." 

■Allefonsce,    .540-45-  Mich.ael  Lok,  .582. 

Thevet,  .556.  J"''^'^'^'           '^''3; 

Zaltieri,  .566.  "-^  »^v.           'S'A 

Ortelius,  .570.  Wytf^iet.          .597- 

John  Dee,  ,580.  Q-^^--  ^,,  ^,^„.ua. 


j! 


1 

i 

H 

1 

i 

1 

1 

I 


/tW- 


l^«4<<L»-i6 


6     ''^y*«M>. 


4«M«  1* 


<W4. 


AND   THE  SITE  OF  NORUMBEGA. 


27 


A  glance  at  the  Coast  Survey  map  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Merrimack  northward  to  the  St.  John's  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  show  that  there  is  nothing  there,  even  if  the 
adverse  latitudes  were  left  out  of  account,  to  correspond 
with  the  outline  on  Cabot's  map  from  Cape  Breton  (Cape 
Ann)  to  Carenas  (Cape  Cod). 

The  accompanying  sketch  presents  the  coast  of  Maine 
from  Portsmouth  to  Campobello,  including  the  region 
specially  examined  for  Norumbega  by  Champlain.^ 


1  From  Dr.  De  Costa's  paper  on  Norumbega  in  Winsor's  "  America." 


"J. 


28 


JOHN  CABOT S  LANDFALL 


\ 
J 


VII. 

NORUMBEGA   AS   A   RIVER,   FORT,    AND   TOWN. 

It  will  have  been  observed  that  the  testimony  of  Alle- 
fonsce  and  Thevet  in  regard  to  Norumbega  as  a  coimlry 
had  a  more  limited  and  specific  application  than  that  of 
most  of  their  contemporaries  of  the  sixteenth,  and  succes- 
sors of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Allefonsce  says:  "Beyond  the  Cape  of  Norumbegue 
the  river  of  the  said  Norumbegue  descends  about  twenty- 
five  leagues  from  the  Cape  [Cape  Cod].  The  said  river 
is  .  .  .  full  of  isles  which  stretch  out  ten  or  twelve 
leagues  in  the  sea  [MafHt's  Ledge,  Roaring  Bulls,  Lizard, 
Graves,  etc.],  and  it  is  very  dangerous  on  account  of  rocks 
and  swashings." 

"  The  said  river  is  through  [/.  e.  next  above'\  forty-two 
degrees  of  the  height  of  the  Arctic  poUr 

"  Up  the  said  river  fifteen  leagues  there  is  a  town 
which  is  catted  Noronbegue,  and  there  is  in  it  a  good 
people,  and  they  have  tnany  peltries  of  many  kinds  of 
animals.' 

Allefonsce,  whose  relation  is  largely  a  sailor's  disjointed 
aggregation  of  instructions  for  the  guidance  of  mariners, 
says,  for  example :  — 

"  In  going  from  the  said  river  [Norumbegue]  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  leagues,  there  is  an  island  wliich  is  called 
Vermondc  [Bermuda],  which  is  in  thirty-three  degrees  of 
north  latitude." 

And  in  the  next  sentence  he  says,  instructing  how  to 
find  the  "  ville  "  —  settlement  —  of  Norumbegue :  — 


n 


fir 


AND   THE  SITE  OF  NORL  HBEGA. 


39 


"  And  on  the  side  toward  the  west  of  the  said  '  ville ' 
there  is  a  range  of  rocks  which  extends  into  the  sea  fifteen 
leagues  di>iant  [Marblehead],  and  on  the  side  towards  the 
north  [of  Marblehead]  there  is  a  bay,  in  which  is  an  isle 
which  is  very  subject  to  tempests  and  cannot  be  inhabited 
[Baker's  Island]." 
Again  he  says :  — 

"  The  river  of  Norumbegue  turns  southwest  around  the 
coast  away  to  the  west  at  least  two  hundred  leagues  to  a 
great  bay  [Vineyard  Sound  and  Buzzard's  Bay],  which  at 
its  entrance  is  about  twenty  leagues  wide,  and  at  least 
twenty-nine  leagues  northward  in  this  hay  diXQ  four  islands 
joined  together"  (Naushaun,  Pasque,  Nashawena,  and 
Cuttyhunk). 

AUefonsce  had  the  idea  that  he  had  been  sailing  along 
the  skirt  0/  an  archipelago. 

He  says,  referring  to  a  bay  about  Charleston  or  Savan- 
nah, that  as  he  was  unable  to  converse  with  the  natives,  he 
was  not  certain  where  the  river  Norumbegue  communi- 
cated with  the  ocean.  He  also  thinks  it  may  connect  with 
the  St.  Lawrence.' 

The  latitude  (next  above  the  forty-second  degree)  can 
apply  only  to  the  mouth  of  the  Charles  River.     Regarding 

>  Ramusio  says  (Kohl,  M.-iine  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  p.  380.  Diego  Homem):  — 
•'  From  the  Reports  of  Cartier,  we  are  not  clear  as  yet  whether  New  France 
is  continuous  will,  the  Terra  Firma  of  the  provinces  of  Florida  and  New  Spain, 
or  whether  it  is  all  cut  up  into  islands,  and  whether  through  these  parts  one 
can  go  to  the  province  of  Cat.iio,  as  was  written  to  me  many  years  ago  by 
M.-ister  .Sebastian  Cabot,  our  Venetian." 

Thus  it  appears  that  whether  or  not  New  England  was  an  archipebgo  was 
not  settled,  at  least  to  the  s-atisfaction  of  Ramusio,  as  late  as  1556. 


30 


JOHN  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 


the  mouth  as  at  the  entrance  to  the  Hack  Bay  (so  called 
Cottage  Farm  Station  on  the  Boston  and  Albany  Rail- 
road), the  latitude  is  42'  21'  30",  Regarded  as  at  the 
entrance  to  Cohasset  rocks,  it  is  42'  16'. 

The  nearest  river  north  is  the  Merrimack,  in  42°  49',  and 
there  are  no  islanih  at  the  mouth  of  that  river. 

There  is  no  other  stream  of  any  considerable  length 
between  Boston  Harbor  and  Cape  Cod. 

Fifteen  leagues  up  the  Charles  River  there  was  then, 
according  to  Allefonsce,  a  trading  resort  or  village  {city 
of  Ramusio)  called  Norumbegue. 

Now,  we  have  already  seen  that  this  name,  Norum- 
begue, means  the  tongue  or  Nonim  of  a  bay,  or  it  may 
mean  a  bay  from  the  bottom  of  which  rises  a  tongue,  a 
divider,  a  Norum ;  and  this  involves  a  sheet  of  water  with 
a  somewhat  peculiarly  scalloped  shore.  There  is  but 
one  sheet  of  water  on  the  Charles  where  these  conditions 
occur,  and  that  lies  between  Riverside,  on  the  Boston 
and  Albany  Railroad,  and  Waltham,  the  city  of  watch 
manufacture,  two  miles  to  the  north.  Along  the  shores 
of  this  sheet  of  water,  some  mile  and  a  half  in  length 
and  of  varying  width,  from  a  few  rods  to  half  a  mile,  there 
are  several  Norumbegas,  —  not  villages  {or  settlcmmts  of 
to-day\  but  peculiar  forms  of  the  shore.  The  'tsost  strik- 
ing are  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  between  the  mouth 
of  Stony  Brook  and  Waltham. 

I  introduce  here  a  map  of  the  river  which,  owing  to  a 
rare  grouping  of  glacial  moraines  for  some  di^^tance  above 
and  below  the  mouth  of  Stony  Brook,  presents  a  most 
unexampled  outline  of  shore.' 

'  Taken  from  map  of  Newton. 


J 


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11 


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1                          i  i 

i 

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mmmmmm 


■PWIiPiliPW— ipwi^P 


j1/vd  the  site  of  norumbega. 


31 


The  next  author  who,  so  far  as  the  latitude  is  con- 
ccrncd,  is  endorsed  by  Allefonsce,  is  Thevet.  Beyond  this, 
Thevct's  support  is  in  the  portrait  of  the  localities  he  has 
drawn.     He  says  (Dr.  Kohl,  Maine  Hist.  Soc  Coll.):  — 

"Some  people  would  make  me  believe  that  lliis  country 
[Norumbcguc]  is  the  proper  country  of  Canada.  But  I 
told  them  that  this  was  far  from  the  truth,  since  the  coun- 
try lies  in  43"  A^.,  and  that  of  Canada  in  50"  or  52°." 

That  is,  /■/  lies  zvithin  the  forty-third  degree,  or  between 
Cape  Cod  and  a  point  a  little  north  of  the  Merrimack,  or,  as 
Allefonsce  read  it,  through,  or  in  the  ne.vt  above  42'  N. 

Thevet  rrives  instructions  to  mariners.     He  says:  — 

"  Having  left  La  Florida  [the  name  first  appearing  on 
Verrazano's  map,  1527,  east  of  the  isthmus  described  by 
Ilieronymus  Verrazano  as  si.\  miles  wide,  and  which  sepa- 
rated the  Mare  V'arrazano  —  the  Adantic  south  of  Barn- 
stable—  from  Massachusetts  Bay],  on  the  left  hand,  with 
all  its  islands,  gulfs,  and  capes,  a  river  presents  itself  which 
is  one  of  the  finest  rivers  of  the  whole  world,  which  we 
call  Norumbeguc,  and  the  aborigines  Agoncy,  and  which 
is  marked  on  some  charts  as  the  Grand  River.  Several 
other  beautiful  rivers  enter  into  it;  and  upon  its  banl-s  the 
French  formerly  erected  a  little  fort  some  ten  or  ttvclve 
leagues  from  its  mouth,  tvhich  ivas  surrounded  by  fresh 
ivater,  which  Jlotus  here  into  the  river,  and  this  place  was 
named  the  Fort  of  Norumbcgue. 

"  Before  you  enter  the  said  river  appears  an  island  sur- 
rounded by  eight  very  small  islets,  which  are  near  the 
Green  Mountains  [Blue  Hills]  and  to  the  cape  of  the 
islets  [Cohasset]." 


?\l 


\ 


l: 


JOHN  CADOrS  LANDFALL 

On  Huth's  map  of  Dr.  Kohl  (No.  i  of  the  page  of  out- 
line  charts,  Maine  Hist.  Soc,  p.  315)  appears  the  circle  of 
islets  ei<rht  in  number,  around  another  island,  and  the 
following  names:  the  C.  dc  ntuchas  islas  the  R.  de 
gonuz.  de  esievan  gonuz.  There  is  just  below  or  sou  h 
of  the  Cohasset  breakers  an  irregular  circle  of  eight 
islands  around  a  ninth  near  the  shore,  which  is  given  m 
detail  on  the  Coast  Survey  map,  entitled  Minots  Ledge, 
which  -ocality  I  have  visited  for  the  purpose  of  ven.ying 

Theve'.'s  account. 

"From  there,"  continues  Thevct,  "you  sail  all  along 
unto  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which  is  dangerous  from  the 
great  number  of  thick  and  high  rocks  [Cohasset  rocks. 
Minot's  ledges,  the  Lizard,  Graves,  etc.],  and  its  entrance 
is  wonderfully  large.  About  three  leagues  into  the  nver 
[measuring  from  Cohasset]  an  island  presents  itself  to 
you  and  may  have  four  leagues  in  circumference,  inhabited 
only  by  some  fishermen  and  birds  of  different  sorts,  which 
island  they  call  Aiayaseon  [Nantasket],j5.ra«.r  it  has  the 
form  of  a  mans  arm  which  they  call  so." 

Aiayascon  is  the  Iroquois  for  arm  (De  La.t.  Montanus, 
Gallatin),  and  a  glance  at  the  Coast  Survey  map-remem- 
bering that  the  Indian  name  descri/>a  the  locality  to  which 
it  is  Affixed  — will  leave  no  doubt  that  the  point  Thevet 
described  was  Nantasket.  The  longer  north  and  south 
portion  was  the  arm  above  the  elbow;  the  east  and  west 
portion,  terminating  at  Hull,  was  the  portion  of  the  arm 

below  the  elbow. 

Possibly  Nantasket,  to  the  student  of  comparative  Indian 
philology,  may  contain  reminiscences  of  Aiayascon. 


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/lA-D    THE  SITE  OF  NORUMBEGA. 


33 


The  Iroquois  and  Algonquins  were  at  war,  and  at  this 
period,  as  Thevet  describes  in  his  account,  the  Iroquois 
were  temporarily  in  possession  of  a  part  of  the  territory. 

Aiayascon  and  Agoncy  were  Iroquois  words.  Norum- 
bega  was  an  Algonquin  word.  The  name  Agoncy  means 
the  head,  and  Thevet  seems  to  think  it  applied  to  a  rock. 

The  French  had  appropriated  the  name  of  Norumbega. 
It  had  already  been  extended  from  the  coast  outline  at 
Salem  over  a  country  stretching,  in  the  notion  of  some, 
through  many  degrees  of  latitude. 

AUefonsce  applied  it  to  a  cape  (Cape  Cod);  it  had 
been  applied  to  the  principal  river  (the  Charles);  it  was 
borne  by  an  Indian  town  (AUefonsce  and  Ingram);  and, 
lastly,  it  had  been  given  to  a  fort  on  the  banks  of  the 
Charles,  at  the  junction  of  a  branch  of  this  river  with  the 
main  stream. 

This  location  of  Norumbega  was  recognized  in  various 
ways  with  greater  or  less  distinctness  on  a  multitude  of 
majjs. 

On  that  of  I  lomem  it  appears,  as  I  conceive,  as  a  flag 
near  the  head  of  a  river,  with  a  display  of  peaked  rocks 
described  by  AUefonsce.^ 

It  appears,  as  I  conjecture,  in  the  towers  and  gateway 
between,  of  a  fort ;  and  near  it  the  cluster  of  peaked  rocks, 
referred  to  by  /Mlcfonsce,  on  the  Dauphin  map  of  1543. 

;\t  the  junction  of  two  rivers  the  fort  itself  or  a  town, 
appears  on  the  map  of  Wyttliet.  It  is  also  on  the  map  of 
Thevet  and  on  Morcator's. 

•  II.ive  we  in  the  larj^e  b.iy  immediately  .ibove  (Homem's  Survey  of 
liostoii  Harbor),  with  the  rivers  on  the  south  and  the  many  isl.ands  with 
which  we  are  now  (;imiliar  ? 

S 


■•''♦4      -;.'  " 


4  J 


J 


34 


70/M'  CABOT'S  LAADFALL 


The  name  or  junction  is  indicated  on  Freire,  1546;  on 
Jomard,  i55(?);  Zaltieri,  1566;  Ortilius,  1570;  John  Dee, 
1580;  De  Dry,   1596;  Quadus,  1600;  Botcro,  1603;  De 

Laet,  1633. 

The  circlet  of  islands  described  by  Thcvet  is  perhaps 
indicated  on  Zaltieri,  156'  md  Porcacchi,  1572.  hut  most 
distinctly  on  the  map  of       -th,  copied  by  Dr.  Kohl. 

As  a  country,  it  was  made  by  some  (Laudonniere 
and  others)  to  extend  from  beyond  the  St.  Lawrence  to 

Florida. 

Smith  made  the  southern  boundary  contiguous  with 
Virginia,  which  then  included  a  part  of  the  present  New 

England. 

It  certainly  underlaid  the  New  I- ranee  of  Verrazano; 
the  Francisco  of  the  Ptolemy  of  1530;  Franciscane  of  AUe- 
fonsce  ;  La  Nuova  Francia.  or  La  Nova  Franza,  etc.,  of  Gas- 
taldi,  1550;  of  Zaltieri,  1566;  of  Orteleus,  1570;  Judaeis, 
1595  ;  De  Bry,  1596;  Ouadus,  1600;  and  Hondius,  1607. 

The)   placed  the  fort  at  or  near  the  junction  of   two 
stream's,  which    united  to  form  the   Rio   Gamas,  or  the 
Rio  C:T-nde,  or  Buena  Madrc,  wh.ch  uniformly  terminated 
in  an  archipelago,  sometimes  called  the  Archipelago  of 
Gomez,  or  B.  St.  Mary's,  at  the  entrance  to  which  was 
the  Cabo  de  Muchas  Islas,  or  Cape  de  lagus  Islas,  or  Cape 
St.  Mary's,  etc.     After  Thevct,  for  a  long  time  authors 
identified  the  river  Norembegue  or  Norumbega,  with  Rio 
Las  Gamas   and   Rio  Grande.      Herrara    identities   Las 
Gamas    with    river  of    St.    Mary's   (see    Kohl,    p.    420). 
The    Sebastian   Cabot   map  (1544)  identifies  Bay  Santa 
Maria  with   the  archipelago  near  Montana  Verde  (ne.xt 


i 


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1 


i, 

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^       I 


AND    THE  SITE  OF  NOKUMBEGA. 


35 


to  Rio  San  Antonio),  which  on  some  maps  is  Buena 
Madrc,  on  others  Bonne  Mere,  and  which,  despite  of 
much  confusion,  can,  as  I  conceive,  only  refer  to  Boston 
Harbor.  It  was  from  Bay  St.  Mary's,  within  sight  of  a 
mountain  some  thirty  leagues  to  the  north  called  Ba- 
nachoonan  (Aganienticus),  that  David  Ingram,'  within 
a  day's  journey  of  Bega  and  Norumbega,  set  sail  for 
F" ranee  in  1569. 

When  I  had  read  these  records  and  studied  these 
maps,  and  compared  them  with  other  ancient  maps,  and 
those  of  recent  date  of  the  counties  and  towns  of  Massa- 
chusetts in  my  possession,  and  it  had  become  clear  to  me 
that  they  described  a  locality  at  tlie  junction  of  Stony 
Brook  with  the  Charles  River  in  the  town  of  Weston, 
county  of  Middlesex,  I  drove  with  a  friend  from  Cam- 
bridge through  a  region  I  had  neve  before  visited,  of  the 
topography  of  which  I  knew  nothing,  except  as  indicated 
on  the  maps,  to  the  junction  of  Stony  Brook  and  the 
Charles,  ivhcre  I  found  the  rcntains  of  the  fort  of  which 
I  enclose  the  accompanying  survey,  made  by  Mr.  Davis, 
the  Engineer  of  the  Cambridge  Citv  Water  Works. 


See  Dr.  Ue  Costa'.s  Ingram's  Kclation,  M.i;;  Am.  Hist.  vol.  i.\-. 


I 

1 


36 


yOHJV  CABOT'S  LANDFALL 


The  plan  sustains  the  description  of  Thcvet,  in  regard 
to  the  ditch  and  general  features. 

The  Agoncv  of  Thevet,— the  head,  — a  high,  isolated, 
rounded  rock,  and  tlie  traces  of  an  ancient  Indian  village 
near,  are  on  the  line  of  the  ditch  which  takes  the  water 
from  Stony  Brook. 

I  found,  on  inquiry,  that  the  ditch  has  been  known  to 
the  proprietor  from  his  boyhood.  He  supposed  it  had 
served  for  purposes  of  irrigation.  But  though  the  prop- 
erty had  been  in  his  family  for  a  century  or  more,  he  had 
never  heard  of  its  being  used  for  any  purpose  whatever. 
The  ditch  is  altogether  about  2,300  feet  long,  of  uniform 
level  from  the  point  on  Stony  Brook  where  the  water  was 
received,  to  near  where  it  discharged  beyond  the  F"ort  into 
the  Charles.' 

I  forbear  further  details  at  present,  both  as  to  the 
results  of  excavations  made  and  the  attempt  to  deter- 
mine the  locations  mentioned  by  Ingram,  adding  simply 
an  outline  map  of  the  Coast  Survey  and  the  Cabot  sketch, 
and  a  legend  that  explains  itself. 

'  What  eviilences  there  are  of  the  existence  of  one  or  more  .incient  Indi.in 
villages  in  this  neighborhood  will  be  presented  in  my  full  paper. 


: 


f 

1 

i 

■ 


ir 


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1 


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^» 


AND   THE  SITE  OF  NORUMBEGA. 


37 


Legend. 

Coast  Survey  Chart,  with  some  ancient  names  and 
points  indicated,  and  identified  with  modern  names  and 
localities. 


1.  Fort  Noruinbcguf, 

2.  Norombcga    of  J,   Cabot, 

1497. 

3.  Cape  Breton, 

4.  Claudia,  Hrisa,  Briso,  and 

Via  I'rimcra, 

5.  Carenas, 

6.  Montcs  Johannis, 

7.  Isthmus  of  Vcrrazano, 

8.  River    of   Noronibcguc   of 

Allcfonsce, 

9.  Mouth  of  Merrimack  ( ?)  and 

10.  Plymouth  Beach  (outside  of 

11.  Rio  Sanantoiiio, 

12.  B.  Espiritu  Santo, 

13.  Aiayascon, 

14.  Na-sha-un, 

15.  Siia-uni-ut, 

16.  Norman  Villa,  (?) 

1 7.  C.  de  Lisarte  of  Cosa, 

18.  Nahum-keake, 

19.  Crossa-ncss  of  the  Norse- 

men, (?) 


Mouth  of  Stony  Brook,  right 

bank. 
Salem    Neck    and    North    and 

South  Rivers. 
Cape  Ann. 

Baker's  Island  and  Breakers. 
C.  de  Arenas,  Cape  Cod. 
Blue  Hills,  Milton. 
Neck  of  Peninsula  of  Cape  Cod, 
near  Barnstable. 

Charles  River. 

St.  Lawrence.  ( ?) 

Bay  of  St.  Christopher?). 

Jones  Ri""r.    eparating  Acco- 

mac  from  the  Peninsula. 
Bay  and  Island  of  Newport. 
Nantasket. 
Naushaun. 
Boston. 

VVinthrop  Point  (?)— Nahant. (?) 
Nahant.  (?) 
Marblehead  and  Neck,  and  bay 

between. 

The  Gurnet 


■lit 


38 


JOHN  cAiiors  la m> fall 


20.  Plymoutli  Peach. 

21,  22.    Fast    and   West   chop 

at  entrance    to   Hohncs 

HoU,  Martha's  Vineyard. 

23.  St.  Johan  of  J.  Cabot  and     One      of    Turk's      Heads      of 

Allcfonscc.  Smith.  ( ?) 

24.  ArcdondaofJ.  Cabot,  Another   of   Turk's    Heads   of 

Smith.  (?) 


IH 


VIII. 

It  remains  to  take  from  Allcfonsces  relation  one  pas- 
sage morc.^     It  touches  the  assumption  with  which  this 

letter  opened. 

I  directed  attention  to  Cabot's  sketch  in  Lok's  map  of 
1582,  in  which  is  an  island,  the  inscription  "John  Cabot, 
1497,"  the  names  Norombega,  Cape  Breton,  and  St.  Johan, 
and  the  outline  of  .shore  against  Claudia  in  latitude 
between  42°  and  43°  north. 

I  have  assumed  the  Cape  Breton  of  Cabot  to  be  the 
Cape  Ann  of  to-day.  The  doubt  is  ^n  hethcr  the  language 
of  Allefonsce  applied  to  the  Cape  Breton  at  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  the  latitude  of  which  is  in  about  46°  15' 

north. 

Allefonsce  says:  "  Le  diet  Cai>  Breton  dc  la  mer 
oceane  est  par  <piaranie  et  deux  dcgnz  de  la  haulteur 
du  poUe  Artiquc." 

1  "  'e  ditz  que  ce  Cip  dc  Katz  et  le  Cap  dc  Breton  ct  plus  dc  ports  en  le 
mer  occ.ine  qui  est  une  isle  appelWe  aussi  S.  Jel.an,  sur  lest  Nord  est  et  oucst 
sud  ouest.  II  y  a  en  1.1  route  quarle  vinp;t  lieues.  Le  diet  Cap  lUcton  de  la 
mer  oceane  est  par  quarante  ct  deux  degree  haulteur  du  pollc  Artique." 


AND    THE  SITE  OF  NORUMDEGA. 


39 


"  The  said  Cape  Breton  of  the  ocean  is  ihroui^h  [that 
is,  next  to  and  above]  forty-two  deforces  of  north 
latitude"  > 

Nciw,  the  latitude  of  Cape  Ann  on  the  United  States 
Coaat  Survey  map  is  42"  38'  N. 

Having  placed  tiie  Cape  Breton  and  the  River  Norum- 
begue  and  the  bay  and  neck  between  of  Norunibega 
within  the  limits  of  the  forty-third  degree,  there  is 
nothing  further  of  assumption  requiring  authority  for 
support. 

'  The  transfer  of  Cape  Breton  from  latitude  42°  38'  to  latitude  46°  15'  was 
but  three  degrees  and  a  half ;  while  the  transfer  in  longitude  was  more  than 
ten  degrees.  Laiii^itiiiie  and  distance  were  of  course  liable  to  be  greatly  at 
fault,  while  latitude  was  observed  to  within  a  degree.  This  transfer  may  have 
been  in  part  due,  as  already  intimated,  to  mistaking  the  Gut  of  Canso  for  the 
strait  connecting  Annisquam  with  Gloucester  harbor,  which  separates  Cape 
Ann  (as  an  island)  iVom  the  mainland  ;  and  also  from  confounding  the  eastern 
coast  of  New-foundland  (the  name  by  which  Norombega,  the  region  dis- 
covered by  John  Cabot,  was  known  to  Henry  VI  I.),  its  many  bays,  indentations 
of  the  coast,  and  mountains,  with  the  group  of  islands  from  Mount  Desert 
southward.  Cape  Race  is  given  on  the  map  of  Gastaldi  almost  in  the  lati- 
tude of  Cape  Hreton  (Cape  Ann),  and  Mercator  (1569)  divides  Newfoundland 
into  several  islands. 


40 


JOHN  CABOrS  LANDFALL 


\ 


IX. 


CONCLUSIONS. 


h 


I  submit  — 

I  St.  That  the  site  of  the  Landfall  of  John  Cabot  in 
1497  has  been  detennined  to  be  Salem  Neck,  in  42"  32' 
north  latitude,  the  Norum  (the  Neck,  to  one  standing  on 
it)  of  the  Norumbcga  of  Cabot,  and  the  Nahum  of  the 
Nahumbeak  i)f  Ogilljy  and  Smith.  Tlie  first  land  seen 
may  have  been  Cape  Ann,  or  possibly  the  mountain, 
Agamenticus. 

2d.  That  the  town  of  Norumbegue,  on  the  river  of 
Norumbegue  of  Allefonsce,  the  Norumbega  visited  by 
Ingram,  and  the  fort  of  Norumbegue  and  the  village  of 
Agoncy  of  Thevet,  were  on  the  Charles  River  between 
Riverside  and  Waltham,  at  the  mouth  of  Stony  Brook, 
in  latitude  42     21'  north.' 

3d.  That  John  Cabot  preceded  Columbus  in  the  dis- 
covery of  America. 

I  am,  very  truly,  yours, 

E.    N.    HORSKORD. 

It  is  proper  here  to  express  my  great  indebtedness  to 
Mr.  Winsor,  who  has  kindly  permitted  me  to  see  ad\ance 
sheets  of  the  elaborate  papers  by  himself,  by  Mr.  Charles 

'  Miiidlesex  County,  St.ite  of  MassachuseUs,  U.  S.  A. 


H 

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v. 


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42 


JOHN  C A  DOTS  LANDFALL. 


Map  of  Mercator. 

Map  of  Champlain. 

Map  of  Lescarbot. 

Map  of  Do  Lact. 

John  Smith's  Map,  i6i4- 

Winthrop's  Map  of  1634. 

United  States  Coast  Survey  Maps  and  Tracings. 

Tracings  of  various  outlines  of  Naamcs-Kcakct. 

Charles  River  bctxveen  Waltham  and  Riverside,  -  part  of  official 

map  of  Xewton  and  surrounding  towns.     (Bcga  of  Ingram.) 
Survey  of  Fort  of  Norunibega. 
Numerous   tracings  of   Maps  of  the  sixteenth  and   seventeenth 

centuries. 

NOTE.-  Uesidcs  corrcctins  the  text  of  my  letter  to  Judge  Daly,  as  printed 
iD  the  October  Bulletin  of  the  American  Geographical  Society,  1  have,  in  this 
edition,  printed  for  priv.ite  circulation,  expanded  several  of  the  notes,  and 
added  some  new  ones,  making  sugge-stions  which  will,  I  trust,  not  detract 
from  the  force  of  the  argument  as  (irst  dr.iwn  out.  — E.  N.  H. 


I 


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